Going out in groups to learn Deen.

Allaah subhaanahu wa-ta'aala says in Surah At-Taubah, verse No. 122 :

" The believers cannot go forth all ;

so why not a group from their every division goes out,

so as to gain understanding of the deen (religion),

and to warn their folk when they return unto them,

so that they may become cautious." (9:122)

In the above verse, Allaah is asking: Why not a group from each division of us believers goes forth, so that it acquires understanding of the deen, and when it returns to its people, it warns them, so that they may become cautious.

Allaah makes this suggestion because He has said in the beginning of the verse: "The believers cannot go forth all ".

Now, let us study the above verse:

1. The proportion of the people going forth: The ratio between the people going forth and those not going forth can be guessed from the fact that Allaah as described the people going forth as "a group from their every division" and the rest of the people as "their folk".

2. Understanding the Deen : We have studied that Allaah's Deen or Allaah's Religion means "Allaah's Law". The completion of every law takes place with the punishment of those guilty under it. Like-wise, the completion of Allaah's law will takes place on the judgment day by sending the sinners to the hell.

"On that day Allaah will complete for them their true religion." (24:25 part)

Those who follow the worldly laws do not get any reward for doing so. It is only an honour from Allaah that besides having provided so much to us in this world, He will give us rewards if we follow His words.

3. Acquiring cautiousness : Those returning after acquiring the understanding of the religion are required to caution their folks. From this, we come to know that whoever acquires the understanding of the religion (that is, the Law of Allaah), he will himself be acquiring cautiousness, only then he will be able to warn his people. Thus, if those who learn Deen - going forth in the manner taught by Allaah - then come back and teach the remaining people, then the chain of learning and teaching Deen will be completed in a short period and once for all.

4. What to learn after going forth ? One question remains about the verse, the details of which we have studied, and that is : What to learn after going forth, to acquire the knowledge of Deen?

We can find the answer for this from verse 29 of Surah Al-ahqaaf:

"And when We turned toward you (Muhammad) a company of jinns, to listen to the Qur-aan; and when they were in its presence, they said: "Listen in silence!" ; when it (the reading) was finished, they returned to their people, as warners." (46:29)

From the study of the above two verses, we come to know that these two situations - one relating to men and another relating to the jinns - are similar, except that the first verse is in the form of a suggestion and the second verse contains details of an accomplished task.

The action contained in the above two verses could be summarized, as under:

a. A group from every division of the believers reaches Allaah's messenger (peace upon him) ;

b. Listens to the Qur-aan silently, to acquire understanding of Deen ;

c. When the recitation is completed, it returns to its folks as warners, so that the people may also acquire understanding of Deen and become cautious.

We also come to know from these verses that Qur-aan is a sufficient source of Fiqh, understanding of the religion, because Allaah has said : "so that they may understand - liyatafaqqahoo - the religion."

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